Professor at Jos Hermens' gala says sub-2 hour marathon could happen with 5 years

2:06:05 Ronaldo da Costa Brazil September 20, 1998

2:04:55 Paul Tergat Kenya September 28, 2003

2:03:59 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia September 28, 2008

2:02:57 Dennis Kimetto Kenya September 28, 2014

(All Berlin Marathon)

It's been roughly 1 minute down each 5 years. So sub-2h around 2030 would be a fair estimate. But it all depends on doping, some freakish talent coming along, and the course/organization/race.

I hope so but I doubt it

Just keep turning a blind eye to PEDs and we're not far away at all.

no way. I think the clean world record right now is around 2:06, I am not believing all of these 2:03-2:05 performances, many by runners that have seemingly come out of nowhere to run these times. we have be tricked and lied to too many times by these PEDs users, it is unfortunate but now it is hard to believe these times.

A clean sub 2 hour marathon will never happen, but I dont think we are to far away from a dirty one, within the next 50 or so years i think someone will do it.

Cynical Person wrote:

A clean sub 2 hour marathon will never happen, but I dont think we are to far away from a dirty one, within the next 50 or so years i think someone will do it.

A eligible clean sub 2 hour marathon that is, down a mountain and with tail win its defiantly possible for someone in the future.

rojo wrote:

http://www.athleticsweekly.com/blog/galaxy-of-stars-attend-global-sports-communications-anniversary-41484/

AW says:

Prof Pitsiladis described the ways you could theoretically bring Gebrselassie’s marathon best of 2:03:59 down to 1:59:59. “It is no longer a matter of if but rather when,” he said, adding that the barrier could be broken, in his opinion, in five years’ time.

My thoughts. No chance. None (unless you count running down a mountain with a tail wind)

"In the lab of Yannis Pitsiladis, a physiologist in Scotland, athletes spend their days injecting synthetic EPO, a popular performance-enhancing drug that tricks bone marrow into churning out more red blood cells"

I guess that he would know what it would takes to run 1:59. What's he got them injecting themselves with now?

Why would they honor that shady PED pusher?

noakistksjd wrote:

Why would they honor that shady PED pusher?

Cynical Person wrote:

Cynical Person wrote:

A clean sub 2 hour marathon will never happen, but I dont think we are to far away from a dirty one, within the next 50 or so years i think someone will do it.

A eligible clean sub 2 hour marathon that is, down a mountain and with tail win its defiantly possible for someone in the future.

What do you mean by "A eligible"? Do you mean they have hit the Olympic A-Standard? That should not enter into it at all.

Also, what is meant by "tail win"? Would the winner have to have a tail? That seems to have nothing to do with it.

When you say it is "defiantly possible", how defiant would they have to be to do it, in your estimation?

rojo wrote:

My thoughts. No chance. None (unless you count running down a mountain with a tail wind)

What exactly are we talking about? No chance that someone will be in sub-2 shape, or that someone will not run sub-2 because of weather, tactics, etc?

Cynical Person wrote:

A clean sub 2 hour marathon will never happen, but I dont think we are too far away from a dirty one.

And how cool is it that we humans can create human beings that can transcend beyond what is possible today.

Yes...Why would they have a gala for Jos Hermens?

He has even referred to himself as... "maybe a little dumb."

....for more on Jos Hermens and Operation Puerto...

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics-claims-over-a-doping-network-are-crazy-says-hermens-425356.html

Anything's possible with a little dope.

Once women start doping, a woman will break 2:00. Think of it: Paula ran 2:15 clean. No other woman has come close, thus proving that no women marathoners are doping. I wish they'd leave the russians alone. They clearly weren't doping or they would've beaten Paula's clean record by now.

Once women start doping, her record will fall, and it will fall big time. They have better endurance than men and they'll surpass the doped men's records.

Cynical Person wrote:

Cynical Person wrote:

A clean sub 2 hour marathon will never happen, but I dont think we are to far away from a dirty one, within the next 50 or so years i think someone will do it.

A eligible clean sub 2 hour marathon that is, down a mountain and with tail win its defiantly possible for someone in the future.

Defiantly possible? Why so stubborn?

rojo wrote:

My thoughts. No chance. None (unless you count running down a mountain with a tail wind)

We are already at 2:02:57. So all one needs is a clean, hard working Brit who beats everybody else by three minutes. That sounds doable.

Not possible. The guys who are running sub-2:07 are (please excuse the metaphor) squeezing every milliliter of toothpaste out of the tube to run as well as they are.

There is a lot of hard hard work, good coaching, good diet, proper support staff, good genetics, perfect pacing, perfect weather and then luck for each of them to do what they are doing.

The only way one is going to break 2:00 is to run it on a course with a record-ineligible amount of descent, with a lot of luck as well (and probably a tail-wind, too).